Plautius nodded curtly, and turned his attention back to the map. ‘Vespasian, you will remain in the south. Your first task is to complete the pacification of the south-west. I want that done as swiftly as possible. By the end of this campaign season, if you can. Find and eliminate what is left of Caratacus’ army. If you come upon Caratacus, try and take him alive. His life is to be spared.’

‘Spared, sir? Surely we want him out of the way permanently.’

‘He will be out of the way. The Imperial Secretary wants him shipped back to Rome in chains, as a souvenir for Emperor Claudius, to remind him of his brilliant campaign to conquer and subdue the Britons.’

‘Don’t overegg it, General,’ Narcissus said quietly.

Plautius pretended to ignore the remark as he continued to brief Vespasian.’According to our intelligence the marsh covers a vast area, all the way to the river Sabrina. It’s crossed by a multitude of tracks. Parts of it are slightly elevated and support a few small settlements. There are stretches of open water and some narrow creeks, but they’re too small to navigate with anything larger than a raft. It is rumoured that Caratacus has established a fortified camp somewhere in the flats, but so far we’ve not been able to get any of the prisoners to tell us the location. I appreciate it’s difficult ground to work with, Vespasian, but I must have the enemy survivors found and destroyed. If there is a camp, I want it razed. If you can take Caratacus alive, do it.’ Plautius paused, and smiled. ‘But if not, then we’ll just have to present the Emperor with some other souvenir of his trip to Britain.’

‘That would be wise,’ added Narcissus.

Vespasian was looking at the map. The area occupied by the flats was huge. The map simply marked its boundaries, with one or two known features, culled from natives or traders. The only area that had any amount of detail was a valley that ran alongside the marshland, following the course of the river that fed into the marshes and fens. A few tracks had been drawn in tentatively, and as Vespasian ran his finger along one of the lines, it smudged, and he realised it was only chalked on to the map. The general saw the gesture and frowned irritably at the smudge mark.

‘As soon as we’ve updated the map, I’ll ensure that you have a copy. There aren’t many of the enemy left, Legate. Shouldn’t be too difficult to find them and finish them off. Once you’ve crushed Caratacus and his surviving forces, that should be the end of resistance to us in the south.’

The general looked up brightly.’That’s that, gentlemen. Any questions? . . . No? Good. Your written orders will be with you shortly and you’re to begin preparations to break camp the day after tomorrow.’